Global Family Doctor

WONCA is an unusual, yet convenient acronym comprising the first five initials of the World Organization of National Colleges, Academies and Academic Associations of General Practitioners/Family Physicians.

Professor Barbara Starfield championed the value and need of strong primary health care systems worldwide. This collection emphasizes the case for primary care and includes a number of Barbara Starfield's own articles as well as other key related material.

WONCA Practice Accreditation

WONCA has developed a practice accreditation programme using its 2017 Global Standards for Practice Accreditation. If your family medical practice is interested please see details below.

WONCA Global Standards for Practice Accreditation

As a further addition to WONCA Standards, and to enhance quality standards and improvement in family medicine practice, WONCA has developed a series of Global Standards for Practice Accreditation, which Executive endorsed late in 2017.

These standards look at four key areas of practice:

1. Practitioners – assessing the qualifications, experience and training of the doctors, nurses and other health professional staff in the practice who are providing primary health care services.

2. Patients – ensuring that the patients in the practice are being offered respectful and culturally appropriate care, with due regard for informed choice and patient feedback.

3. Provider activity – evaluating the use of patient health records (ideally electronic), collection and use of health data, and ensuring that there are systems in place for follow-up of tests and results, practice information, health promotion and preventive care.

4. Premises – confirming that practice facilities meet the standards, that practice equipment meets basic minima and that there is safe and quality use and storage of medicines and vaccines.

The first practices have been accredited to the WONCA standards – five in Beijing and three in Shanghai: